Payback
by John F
Summary: A group of bounty hunters and a little boy are both searching, but it isn't for Jack!


Payback  
A tale of Samurai Jack by John F.  
  
Comments: You know the legal drill. I did not create Samurai Jack; Genndy Tartakovsky did. The characters and world are used here without permission from either Mr. Tartakovsky or Cartoon Network. This is a story created by a fan and nothing more. This story may be reproduced in any way that you wish as long as I know about it and no changes are made. This includes (but is not limited to) changing words, removing the by-line, and adding extra by-lines.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
The Bazaar was busy today. People bought and people sold. Blankets to baskets, cakes to caskets, shovels to swords, it was all for sale.   
  
Slowly, the market ended. One by one the tents came down. One by one the caravans left. One by one the remaining shopkeepers became nervous. Would their wares sell? The crowd was getting thinner by the minute. Some would return home failures.  
  
A very small figure shrouded in black shifted around the flow of the vanishing crowd. The figure had been there all day, but not too many people would have noticed him. He was only three feet tall. Being so small, moving so quickly, and looking so dark, he was probably shrugged off as if he were a cat moving beneath the crowd.  
  
The dark one was definitely on a mission. He was moving from weapon tent to weapon tent. Each time that he entered, he ran to the swords. He would examine and examine, but he never seemed to find the sword that was his goal.  
  
"Do you have this sword, kind shopkeeper?" the darkness would ask as he showed a torn piece of paper.  
  
"That sword? Ha! The world is searching for THAT sword. If I had it sitting in here, I wouldn't be a shopkeeper anymore! Besides, they say that some guy carries it with him. I can't seem to remember what his name was. Hmmm."  
  
"JACK!!!!!" a voice yelled from outside.  
  
"Yeah, that was his name. Hey! Where did that little fellow go?" the shopkeeper said in the direction of the boy's previous location.  
  
Outside, a stranger in a large pan-shaped hat was looking down the dusty street. Down the street was a group of people wearing black cloaks like the boy that just ran out of the shop.  
  
The stranger, of course, was the warrior Jack. Jack stood firm in the face of such a large group. He realized that their arms were not visible below those cloaks; a weapon could be drawn from the darkness at any time. To prepare for the worst, Jack put his hand to the hilt of his sword. "I am Jack. What do you want of me?" the samurai calmly stated.  
  
"We are after a bounty! You can either comply or face the full might of the dreaded Order of the Black Shroud," the middle shrouded figure replied.  
  
"The bounty? I cannot comply, but I can give you some information: many have tried to get the bounty, and all have failed," Jack warned.  
  
"Hahahahaha! Most professional hunters don't even bother with the Earth! The fact that so many amateurs have failed means nothing. We have NEVER failed. Let me demonstrate the power of the Order of the Black Shroud for you." The leader bent low, and he opened his cloak as wide as he could.  
  
Jack drew his sword and got into a defensive stance. He was ready for whatever would come his way.  
  
Suddenly, a silvery, snake-like tendril shot out of the darkness at the center of the leader's cloak. It flew toward Jack at break-neck speed. Jack sidestepped, then with a mighty slash the snake was beheaded.  
  
Three more shot out as the first one did. Jack ducked two of them. He pointed the sword directly at the third one, and it was ripped in half. A vertical slash took out the other two. Five shot out. Five heads fell. Seven shot out. Seven heads fell.  
  
Jack looked back and prepared for the next attack. "Your associates! Where did they go?"  
  
Suddenly, hundreds of snakes shot out of the tents around Jack. Duck, slash, spin, drop. Seven heads dropped to the ground. Roll, block, leap, slash, slash. Five more heads fell to the ground. Finally, one of the heads locked onto the sword. Several heads follow suit. Soon, Jack's sword was covered in tendrils, and each one was pulling against Jack's grip.  
  
Jack pulled with all of his might. It seemed that the Black Shroud had the advantage. Suddenly, one of the tendrils snapped. A few others followed suit. Others shot out to replace the ones that broke, so Jack decided it was now or never. He slightly loosened his pull, then he jerked with all of his might. The tendrils snapped, and the sword flew backward out of Jack's hands. It flew into a shop. Jack was left weaponless on the battlefield.  
  
"After it!" the leader shouted. "We mustn't let it get away!"  
  
Jack stood confused. "I thought that you never fail, but now you retreat?"  
  
The leader stops, but the others continue onward. "What, you thought that YOU were the target? That is too funny!"  
  
Jack raised an eyebrow.  
  
"There is a bounty on you, but it is pocket change compared to the price on your sword! Plus, the bounty on your head is void with the sword. Aku's posters make it very clear that you are no longer a threat without your sword." The leader ran toward the tent where the sword would be.  
  
"Aku's posters were wrong." Jack grabbed a throwing axe from a weapon shop with an open front. "Forgive me. I will pay after this is over." Jack flung the weapon with perfect precision, and the shrouded figure dropped to the ground.  
  
Jack grabbed a sword, and he ran to the tent where his father's sword had gone.  
  
"Where is it. Where is it!" one of the members of the Order said as he held the shopkeeper high in the air by his shirt.  
  
The shopkeeper stuttered, "I...I didn't see any sword come in here. I just sold a sword to this guy that looked just like you! Well, he was dressed like you. He was a lot shorter. Are you sure that none of you have it?"  
  
The man fell to the ground. The shrouded figure that had been talking began giving out orders: "Brother Mi. Brother So. You pursue anybody that isn't part of the order that wears a cloak like our own. Fa. Hand me a blade from this man's selection!"  
  
"Here, try this one, Re!" Fa handed the blade to Re.  
  
"I am thinking about purchasing this blade, but I would like to test it out first. Your arm, please." Re grabbed the shopkeeper's arm and held the sword high.  
  
Jack ran into the shop just as the blade was going down. "Stop!" he called.  
  
The four dark figures looked toward Jack. "Oh, it is just you."  
  
"Do not take me too lightly. Your leader lies dead outside of this tent."  
  
"Ti, go check to see what he says is true!" Re commands. Re then rearranged himself with the shopkeeper to use him as a body shield. The sword was positioned right at the old man's neck. "Let's play a little game while he checks on Do. Fa and La, the two of you will fight Jack. If Jack refuses to fight, I will kill this man." 


End file.
